Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-04-23

toy which sells for few shillings.
The precious metal being here so plenti-
full because of the remarkable richness of
the surrounding Sierras, ornaments of pure
gold and silver are common among the
poorest people-from great hoops in their
ears to cigarette cases in their pockets. At
every street corner are little stands where
GENUINE TREASURES,
In the way of antique jewelry or exquisite
specemins of filigree-work may be bought
for song. There are bracelets, necklaces,
combs, ear rings, crucihxes, in short every
imaginable devise-some set with the beau
tiful opals of Queretaro, or pearls from
the California Gulf, or topez, amethyst,
garnets or "cat' s-eyes from other portions
of Mexico.
The Guadalajaran woodcarvers are also
famed for the beauty of their workman
ship. In hundred little shops we find
swarthy workmen patiently carving bits of
wood into wonderful rosaries, every bead
of which shows a miniature picture of
some scriptural scene, heads which are re-
ally perfect portraits for the tips of canes
and;umbrellas, rings, boxes, cigarette cases,
buttons, etc. The cane-carvers, who have
over two hundred varieties of rich native
wood to choose from, produce some Won
derful sticks: and many of the most ex-
pensive umbrella and parasol handles
known to commerce are wrought by these
unknown, poorly paid workmen.
One has a chance to study good many
quaint trades in this land of " the Far
God" though the real secrets of their arts
are jealousy guarded by the Mexicans,
having been handed down through success
sive generations from Indian ancestors
who practiced them centuries before the
zrNt NIrarr .lf( nrtn A h orrr
GUS is the pottery making, in which the
native throwers," or molders, by, "a mere
twist of the hand, a turn of the wrist. or a
twirl of the fingers, form the yielding clay
into the oldest shapes.
Still more interesting is the craft of
making perfectly life-like miniature figures
out of rags-an art which has existed in
Mexico at least FIVE hundred years. Dick
ems Jenny Wren" the dolls dressmaker,
finds many prototype in Guadalajara, for
hundreds of native women spend their
lives in making clothes for these rag figures,
in the most accurate and particular man.
ner possible. The rag-fgure maker is an
artist in his way, and produces perfect
Hkenesses of men, women and children,
representing all callings and classes in
Mexico-from ragged leperos to senoritas
of fashion, sandal-sbod water-carriers and
pouitry-venders, elegantly attired cabaHeros
or gentlemen of leisure, nuns, priests and
servants.
Like the Occidental nations, Mexico has
manufacture of textile fabrics peculiarly
its own. The Mexican weaver of silk and
cocoa goods uses loom resem bling moth.
ing ever seen north of the Rio Grande-a
primitive and clumsy affair, vet which
turns out remarkably good work. AS no
village, however poor, is without its reb0Sd
and SerGpe manufacturer, one may see scores
of them in operation in almost any street
in Guadalajara.
One has also chance to study the in
genuity of the
wAX-ToRKERs,
Who are eternally fashioning fruits and
flowers, large as life and twice as natural, ="
as Mrs. Darlington observed of the stuffed
crocodile. Ask one of these dark-skinned
workmen for an apple or an orange, and
with incredible rapidity he will manufact-
ure one which would tempt the gods to be
deceived by its exact shape and delicate,
fruity bloom. 1t is merely layer of wax
over forms of papier gadche but the soft
substance is SO deity manipulated and the
colors so accurately applied, that one is lost
in establishment.
Mexican gold and silver embroidery
thread lace, drawn" work, and intricate
needle-work also command universal ad-
miration. But the richest and most curious
of all is the pllnnqje, or feather-work, which
is made only in Mexico, and nowhere bet
Ter than in Guadalajara, the secret of which
Is known only to certain families, in which
it has been preserved for centuries. In
this city there are elegant mansions deco
rated something as were Montezumas
palaces with feather-work the most elabor-
ate which Is neither tapestry nor applique
nor is it woven into nor sewn upon the
foundation. There are magnificent cur
tains also, besides altar cloths, scarfs, hang
ings and other decorations, made of some
heavy material ornamented in an hides
cribably brilliant manner by leaves and
follable of embroidery, in which birds
stand out in bold relief, because the latter
ale made OF the natural plumage OF the
birds themselves By some mysterious
process, known only to the artists, these
real feathers are wrought upon the stuffed
surface so naturally that the bird from
which the plumage came is perfectly repro
duced
The same art is also exercised upon cards
(large and small) scarf pins, hair orna-
ments, ETC., and the tiniest humming birds
to the tallest of the stork family are accu-
rately represented. The pl,tnaje of the an
cient Mexicans has often been described by
early travellers, and few ragged specimens
of the royal feather cloaks worn by Monte
yuma and his mobiles may still be seen fiut-
tering upon the walls of museums. The
nuns OF later days became greatly skilled
IN the art, and made mosaic pictures of
feathers, which, we are told, exceeded any
painting ever seen in beauty and brilliancy
of coloring. That we can readily believe,
considering the gorgeous plumage of par
rots, macaws and other Mexican birds.
Formerly all the trade of Guadalajara
was carried on through the port of San
Bias, but is now removed to the superior
harbors of Guaymas and Mazatlan-as our
Socialistic friends of the American colony
at Topolobampo bay, on the coast of Sina-
loa, hope in time to monopolize it them
selves. FANNIE B. WARD.